1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system videoconferencing, and more particularly to cues for multi-party videoconferencing on an information handling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Increases in processing power on information handling systems to process information and increases in network bandwidth for communicating information have resulted in greater adoption of video conferencing by information handling system end users. For example, an end user with a portable information handling system and a broadband Internet interface can hold a face-to-face business meeting from virtually any location. Videoconferencing capabilities continue to expand as videoconferencing application designers take advantage of powerful processing and network resources to send higher quality images and sounds. Unified Communication software, such as Microsoft LYNC, Live Meeting and Skype, have begun to add multiparty support that allows several individual users in different locations to combine into a common videoconference with each participant having a video screen of the other participants. A recent beta videoconferencing application by Skype provides five-way videoconferences in which each user of a five-way videoconference sees a video presence, icon or still picture representing the other four parties.
One difficulty that arises with multi-party videoconferencing is identifying a current speaker in a videoconference. If the participants all know each other, then the differing sound of each voice provides a basis for identifying a speaker; however in situations where the participants are not familiar with each other, confusion can result as a greater number of participants speak up. More expensive proprietary videoconferencing systems, such as Cisco's Telepresence and HP Halo, use multichannel audio to create sound fields in the transmit and receive side of a videoconference, however these techniques typically require multiple microphones and some expertise to use. Some multi-party video telepresence applications, such as MingleVerse, provide virtual 3d chat rooms where end users move their own icon or avatar to join conversations with other participants. One technique that helps videoconferencing participants to identify a speaker in less complex Unified Communication applications is enlarging or otherwise highlighting the image or avatar of a speaker. Although this identifies the speaker, an end user must be viewing the videoconference screen to receive this cue or otherwise rely upon voice sound recognition to follow who is speaking.